Art Therapy Supervision by Magdalena Karlick

As an Art Therapist, I know that the art process is an important container. As a supervisor, I like to weave in art making and sand tray work in supervision, to articulate client and agency issues and express the multi-dimensional experience that a new therapist has.

Katelyn did her practicum and internship at a jail, working with adult inmates who were locked up anywhere from a few days to a few years. She learned about many different cultures and power dynamics through immersion. As a way to end our supervisory relationship, and to contain the ending of her internship, Katelyn created a collage out of art that she made with clients and a few pieces that she was given.

We reflected on the change of her trees over the course of internship, signifying her personal states as well as those of her clients.

Throughout the art-making process, Katelyn quietly reflected on her experience with certain clients, and what was happening while she was creating art with them. It is beautiful how our art can hold so many memories, both of the moments in which the art was made, as well as the personal associations that our mind and body connects.

Katelyn has successfully graduated from Southwestern College, and is currently working as a therapist at an agency in Santa Fe.